What's YOUR creative process?

[Captain Shoggoth]

I'll usually compile a bunch of very basic ideas while jamming over the span of anywhere between a couple of days to a couple of months, then I'll just make a sort of sounding-board tab file where I attempt to link stuff.

One day when I'm feeling especially creative and have a certain concept or mood going I'll go back and cut/compile those ideas (which end up usually amounting to about 5-20% of the finished product) and make a song over the span of anywhere between 6-8 hours to 2-3 days, usually at night, often I'll go on writing sprees in school holidays where I finish songs at 4am then crash into bed

I tend to look for musical inspiration outside of progressive metal despite it being the genre I play, the last song I did was partly influenced by Island in the Sun by Weezer, and the stuff I'm working on now is influenced a fair bit by various videogame soundtracks. Once I did a song with a giant orchestral theme inspired by a fictional christmas carol from a Doctor Who Christmas special

 

[bigswifty]

There's a huge range; sometimes I'll grind out a song in a day or two, and others I'll find myself writing to a half-finished piece written months before hand.

I agree that it is often best to write the song while in a particular mindset, as in not mashing together riffs. But I find creative bursts such as those which drive you to complete a song in a day are few and far between, so beggars can't be choosers.

In terms of content, I always try to write things that I've never heard before and that other people and especially musicians would find interesting!
I'm also learning that simplicity speaks volumes and silence does even moreso. It's all about dynamic.

 

[Draceius]

When I'm at college:
-6 packets of skittles
-2 ltrs of coke/lucozade
-Leave my window open and proceed to jam

When on break:
-optional high (it sometimes helps to be "under the influence but I make sure it isn't a habit)
-Listen to some rain, or anything ambient and just play how I feel

Though if I'm trying to write a lead then I just try and get uber focused and do multiple attempts till it sounds right, then work on how to put how I feel into it so it accentuates some of the parts.

Edit: I should add that I try to avoid listening to music by other bands for about a day if I know I'm going to start writing, and I try to listen to only atmospheric stuff until I can get in the mindframe of writing.

 

[Quantumface]

I have a home studio so writing for me starts with sitting down at the computer with my guitar. I program the drum parts riff by riff, then come back and fine tune them with more variation and fills. I usually add bass riff by riff as well now that I have a studio bass. When I have a good seed for a song it is usually stuck in my head while I'm at work or class which allows me to continue to write during most points of the day. When I actually come back to the guitar to track the ideas, sometimes they don't always turn out how I envisioned them but hey it's all part of the process I guess. Once a full song is complete, I usually go back and re-record sloppier parts. Im not an "Idea by Idea" kind of guy. I hate writing pieces of songs, so I usually write as many songs as possible for whatever project im working on. I feel like being prolific is more important than anything.

 

[nikolazjalic]

B) Roll cigarette while listening to inspiring music

C) Get snacks and a drink prepared for the next few hours

LOL "cigarette"

Being under the influence can really help inspire some really cool ideas when I feel my creativity has run "dry".

Most of the times my writing process goes like this:
1. Pick up guitar and jam for a while
2. Accidently a cool idea comes out
3. Tab it in Guitar Pro
4. Decide where the riff should belong in the song. (intro, middle, etc.)
5. Try to think of a direction I want the song to go in and write more riffs
6. If nothing comes out, I start working the other instruments and layers
7. Hopefully by this time, the "fuller" riff has inspired some ideas.
8. Rinse, Repeat

Sometimes I'll switch up the steps, like if I feel the riff should be more focused on the drums, or I want a lead guitar or keyboard melody, I'll start with that first. Sometimes songs take days to finish and some songs I've finished in one sitting.

I wish I learned before about what 80H is talking about. It was a turning point in my writing when I realized how important variation is. It sets apart the "bunch of riffs tossed together" songs and more complete songs.

 

[kevdes93]

1. Lock myself in my room
2. Smoke weed
3. Masturbate
4. noodle around

Hasn't failed me yet

Ive found that flipping through art books and checking out cool art helps me think of stuff

 

[bigmomma]

Sometimes I'll setup a camera and film myself jumping around and diving into the floor. Then I'll put music to go along with all my actions... like a cartoon.
Speaking of retard bands.. watch these guys
Maggot Twat - Eating Elvises Shit Live Holiday Of Horrors 2009 - YouTube

 

[Umrgrgl]

I don't really set out to write material, instead I just get inspired at the most random moments, at which time I silence anyone and anything around me in order to get the idea out of my head and try to play the melodies that were making it hard for me to sit still.

Kind of shitty when this happens when I'm in public or somewhere without access to guitars, but even then I just write down the tabs that I think will be close to the melodies in my head (a lot harder to do though), just having written something down usually enables me to remember the melodies when I'm trying to work out the notes.

Another way I like to work in is to have my bandmates record their ideas without my lines in them and just jam until I come up with something that adds to the ideas without messing it up or taking out the element that made their melodies sound good in the first place.

On a side note... I hate composers that write entire songs and proceed to say:"Play this." I usually end up saying:"I have a brain and creativity of my own you know."
I try not to fill in the entire thing for my bandmates, usually just recording something really simple or just some groundnotes and asking them to fill in the rest on their own.

 

[elnyrb10]

make myself an old fashion, grab my guitar, watch a couple video lessons on youtube of guitar players i like then noodle around on logic